Ad-Dustour 'still waiting' for promised JD1m

AMMAN — Staff at Ad-Dustour on Tuesday called for expediting the extension of JD1 million to help conduct urgent maintenance at the daily's printing press and pay part of employees' salaries.

The employees said they were waiting for the appointment of a chairman for the daily's publisher, the Jordan Press and Publishing Company, to open the door for extending the JD1 million.

"We have not received anything yet. We are still waiting for the promised JD1 million. It is very important to speed up the process and give the money to the newspaper. The more time passes, the more we incur losses," Awni Daoud, managing editor of Ad-Dustour’s economic section, told The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

Last month, the Social Security Corporation (SSC) approved a JD1 million loan to the financially troubled Ad-Dustour daily, where staff members have not received salaries for eight months in a row.  The decision was meant as part of efforts to save the country’s oldest newspaper, established in 1967.

The state-owned Social Security Investment Fund owns nearly 30 per cent of Ad-Dustour's publishing company. 

"It has already been more than one week and we are still waiting. We hope that the process will be faster," Daoud said.

Omar Maharmeh, a local news editor at Ad-Dustour, said employees at the daily have not received their salaries yet.

"We are waiting for the appointment of a chairman after which the money will be given," he told The Jordan Times.

The daily witnessed the layoff and voluntary resignation of scores of staff members over the past few months.